The Bassetto in Folk Music

Carl Spitzweg, Spanish stand (1867)

The instrument has a long tradition in the realm of folk music, and in popular classical music, being known mostly as the bassett or bassettl.
It was widely used even into the 20th century, particularly in the Bohemian-Austrian area.
Again, the size, the shape, and the number of strings were very varied: the Czech bassett researcher Ludvik Kunz names twelve different tunings for the four-string version alone. The bassett was often used at musical open air occasions such as folk

Bassett, 18th century

festivals and processions, and was equipped with a leather carrying belt for this purpose. The music played on it was rather simply structured, and the tasks of the bassett player were exclusively of an accompanying nature, limited essentially to providing the root notes of the harmony.